10 Effective Ways To Start Your

10 Effective Ways To Start Your Mornings

“Rise and Shine”, we have all heard of this phase right? For some, getting up in the morning being productive and ‘shining’ comes naturally. For others, mornings are just not our best friend, getting out of bed can be the hardest thing to do, and you have to fight with everything that is within you to get out of bed. However there is a way to overcome this; by adopting a morning routine. Morning routines can help you have a more positive, healthier and productive day.

According to a study by the American Psychological Association, by creating and implementing a morning routine you can reduce things such as stress, depression and anxiety levels and gain an increase in life satisfaction.

A morning routine can help you feel more energetic and strong and also give you direction

Here are our 10 tips on having a successful morning.

1. WAKE UP GRADUALLY

Our body’s biological nature is not set up to wake up to the sudden abrupt blare of an alarm clock, this forces you to suddenly be in a mode that your body is not prepared for.

Find an alarm clock that wakes you up gradually, waking up slowly allows your body to accept the fact that you are waking up. You could experiment with different tones such as chimes that gradually increases in volume or nature sounds such as the birds tweeting or ocean waves.

2. WAKE UP WITH GRATITUDE

A great way to start the day is by focusing on the things that you have to be thankful for. Gratitude may be the most important key to success. It has been called the mother of all virtues.

Waking up in gratitude is giving thanks for your life’s blessings no matter how big or small. Think of things to be grateful for, e.g. a safe warm house to wake up in, a loving family that supports you, you’re health.

Waking up in gratitude is practising giving thanks for that which you have, have had, experienced and that which is yet to come. This opens up more doors to bring forth occurrences and things to be thankful for. It serves as a reminder of all the good things that you already have and it helps you to begin your day with a gracious spirit, uplifted and ready to receive more.

3. RECITE AFFIRMATIONS

Affirmation are positive, specific statements that are positive mental repetition that can reprogrammed your thinking pattern and enable you over time to think and act differently.

A study conducted by researchers at North western State University, Natchitoches, found that people who used positive affirmations for two weeks experienced higher self-esteem than at the beginning of the study.

Affirmations can help you visualise and believe in what you are trying to affirm to yourself and help you to make positive changes to your life. They’re usually short, positive statements that target a specific area, behaviour, or belief that you’re struggling with.

Start by thinking of the areas of your life you’d like to change. For instance, do you wish you had more patience, what do you want your career to look like, what about your finances or your love life? For e.g. I am a great salesman, I am working in my dream job, I get paid to do what I love.

4. DRINK HERBAL TEA

Lemon tea for example can help to kick-start your metabolism for the day. It assist the liver and digestive system.

Lemons have strong antibacterial, antiviral, and immune-boosting powers which build immunity and fight infection; their high in vitamin C, calcium, citric acid, bioflavonoids and pectin.

Drinking Lemon Tea first thing also has a number of benefits. It hydrates you, whilst we are a sleep our body is literally on a fast, when we wake it is in a mild state of dehydration, drinking Lemon tea can re-hydrate your body.

It can help the body release toxins, balance your PH Levels and boost your immune system. There are additional benefits such as it can freshen your breath, lift your moods and aids in weight loss.

5. ENGAGE IN SOME TYPE OF CENTERING BEHAVIOUR

This could be mediation, praying, journaling or practising visualisation, find one that works for you.

When you pray or meditate, it changes the activity of your brain, activity moves from the right frontal cortex (where we acknowledge stress etc.) to the left frontal cortex (calmness)

The physical benefits include relaxation in your breathing, which enables your breathing to become easier and more aligned with rhythms in your heart this is therefore good you’re your cardiovascular health. It also decrease blood pressure and puts our body in a state of rest. Praying or mediating can also can decrease anxiety and depression, improve learning and memory and increase happiness and emotional stability.

You might be thinking why journaling? However there has been increasing evidence that supports the idea that journaling can have a positive impact on physical well-being. James Pennebaker and the University of Texas at Austin psychologist suggest that regular journaling strengthens immune cells, called T-lymphocytes.

The benefits of journaling includes stress reduction, it enables you to solve problems more effectively and helps you to clarify your thoughts and feelings.

6. EXERCISE

Exercising in the morning offers many health benefits, for both your health and daily schedule.

There are many benefits from exercising in the morning, including enhancing your metabolism, which means it burns more calories after you work out. It can improve your physical and mental energy, exercise is a great source of energy and this can come in handy in starting your day.

Starting your day with exercise can improve focus and mental abilities, not only will you feel awake and have more energy after your workout but your mind will be ready to take on the day. It will also help you to develop strong discipline and this could roll over into other areas in your life.

Dr Scott Collier from Appalachian State University had participants, exercise at 7am, 1pm, or 7pm 3 day per week. Resulted showed that participant exercise at 7am reported the deepest longest sleeps.

Some people find doing cardio first thing in the morning more beneficial and others find doing yoga more an effective way to start their day.

Find which one suits.

7. READ OR WATCH SOMETHING INSPIRATIONAL

Reading is an effective mental process, which often substitute a passive activity such as watching TV. People who read have being reported to have a more diverse vocabulary, higher intelligence and a greater general knowledge than those that don’t.

Reading first thing in the morning can provide mental stimulation, it can engage your brain which essentially is working the muscles in your mind and it can improve your focus and your creativity.

If you prefer you can always watch something inspirational, watching something inspirational can set the tone for your day, giving you inspiration and raising your aspiration and motivation levels.

8. EAT A HEALTHY BREAKFAST

It is commonly reported that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. This is because when we are asleep our bodies are essentially in a state of fast. When we wake we essential need to fuel our bodies from this fast. That’s where its name originates (break-fast).

It is advised that breakfast should be eaten with 2 hours of waking. The benefits of eating a health breakfast is that it provides us with energy, is a good source of nutrients such as calcium, iron and vitamin B, research shows that if these are missed at breakfast, they are less likely to be compensated for later in the day.

Breakfast also restores glucose levels, an essential carbohydrate that is needed for the brain to function. Studies have shown how eating breakfast can improve memory and concentration levels and it can also make us happier as it can improve mood and lower stress levels.

9. SET YOUR INTENTIONS FOR THE DAY

What do you want your day to look like? Do you want to be more focus? Do you want to be more productive, would you like to get on better with your colleagues? Think about what would make your ideal day, how do you want to feel and set those intentions.

For example:

“I won’t sweat the small stuff.

“I will have a productive day.”

“I will encounter only good people today.”

“My day will be very positive.”

10. IT’S ALL IN THE MIND

The key to having a successful morning routine is all in your mind-set. Keep telling yourself you are not a morning person and you will not be a morning person. Change your-self talk, start telling yourself you love mornings, add this to your affirmations, eventually you will see the difference.

Do you have a morning routine? What do you do in the morning to help you have a more productive day?